Busisiwe Mkhwebane Found Not Guilty After State Withdraws Main Perjury Charge

• The State withdrew the founding perjury charge against former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane at the Pretoria Magistrates' Court on 30 September 2026
• The withdrawn charge was the primary allegation linking four remaining counts, fundamentally altering the case against Mkhwebane
• The development carries implications for a separate Legal Practice Council high court application seeking to strip Mkhwebane of her advocate's licence

PRETORIA — Former Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane was found not guilty and discharged at the Pretoria Magistrates' Court on 30 September 2026, after the State withdrew the founding perjury charge against her.

The decision to drop the main count was significant because the four remaining charges were directly linked to it. With the primary allegation removed, the entire legal architecture of the case against Mkhwebane effectively collapsed.

Charges rooted in 2017 Absa/Bankorp probe

The criminal proceedings originated from Mkhwebane's controversial 2017 investigation into the Absa/Bankorp matter. During recent court proceedings at the Pretoria Regional Court, the case took a dramatic turn when the prosecution opted to withdraw the central allegation.

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Supporters of Mkhwebane, including representatives from the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, argued that the foundational evidence underpinning the perjury charges never existed. Her defence maintained that security footage and official records placed her at the Public Protector's Cape Town office during the period in which she was accused of concealing certain meetings.

Her political allies also raised concerns about one of the now-discredited key witnesses, whom they identified as an active CR17 political campaigner in the Tshwane region at the time the initial accusations were made.

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Impeachment and LPC application still loom

The perjury allegations carried significant weight beyond the criminal court. They formed a central pillar of the Parliamentary Section 194 Committee inquiry that led to Mkhwebane's impeachment and removal from the office of Public Protector.

The case also remains connected to a high court application by the Legal Practice Council (LPC), which is seeking to permanently revoke her right to practise as an advocate. That matter continues to unfold in the high courts, independent of the criminal proceedings.

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Mkhwebane, who currently serves as patron of the BM Foundation, has consistently described the charges against her as political persecution arising from high-profile investigations she conducted while in office.

While the withdrawal of the founding count represents a substantial legal victory for her team, her professional status as an advocate remains subject to the ongoing LPC application.

Mkhwebane feels vindicated after Phala Phala finding

Briefly News reported that former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said she has been “vindicated” after the Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday, 8 May 2026, that Parliament’s vote on the Section 89 Panel report into the Phala Phala matter was unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court issued a landmark ruling on 8 May 2026, declaring that the National Assembly’s decision to dismiss the report on the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s game farm was illegal and unconstitutional.

Source: Briefly News